Gawker Media comes under fire after outing CFO

NEW YORK — On Thursday evening, popular gossip site Gawker posted a story involving the CFO of a leading mass media company and his complicated relationship with a male escort.

Shortly after publication, the post drew the ire of media personalities and Gawker’s loyal readership, who accused openly gay publisher Nick Denton and the story’s author Jordan Sargent of blackmail, “gay shaming,” and unnecessarily outing a married man with three children.

Many are wondering whether Sargent’s post spells the end of Gawker Media, which is currently embroiled in a high-profile lawsuit involving Hulk Hogan and a sex tape.

As “cbabgeae” commented beneath Sargent’s original post, “Jordan basically admitted to being accessory after the fact to a felony, helping to blackmail and extort someone… Basically, if [the CFO] sues, Gawker is finished, as are all of its writers, since he can probably make a good claim for individual liability too.”